Psalm 25:1-5
To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul;
in you I trust, O my God.
Do not let me be put to shame,
nor let my enemies triumph over me.
No one whose hope is in you
will ever be put to shame,
but they will be put to shame
who are treacherous without excuse.
Show me your ways, O LORD,
teach me your paths;
guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my Savior,
and my hope is in you all day long.

My prayer

A Runner

So, this is somewhat of an abnormal post.  Typically my posts describe what God's been teaching me and where He's leading me.  This one simply depicts a new summer habit.

This summer I determined that I would turn myself into a runner.  Running something that I've tried to get into for the past year or so but kept getting pushed down the priority list.  I determined to change that during the past few months.

Despite running consistently, I struggled to see much progress in my runs.  I mean, I was running greater distances than I had in the past (before even running a mile was a stretch), but my time wasn't worth a second glance.  And I kept finishing my runs feeling sore, worn out, out of breath, basically feeling just as out of shape as the day I went for my first run.

That changed Monday.  =)  After a day of nannying in which I was turned into a human jungle gym, I had a pounding headache and overall just wasn't feeling the greatest.  I decided to go for a leisurely run anyway.  About 2/3 into my usual run, I decided to go a bit further and add an anticipated mile to my usual route; I was feeling really good (not even breathing heavy) and figured, why not.  I rounded the final corner home, for once not feeling like I was dying at the end of my run, and leisurely turned up the driveway and into the house.  That's when I discovered what I'd just done; I glanced at the clock and realized that I had just run 5 miles in 30 minutes.  Oh buddy!  I just ran a 6 minute mile, 5 of them in fact!  Yup, I was just a little excited.  Finally I'd felt like I'd a runner.  Not only had I made really good time, I had done so at what felt like a leisurely pace, a pace that left me feeling like I could go even further (which I probably will =)). Plus, I wasn't even trying to push myself, my goal was simply to run, even if it wasn't pretty; I let go of all expectations and (to steal Nike's catchphrase) just did it (yeah, there's probably a lesson there).  And it felt great!

I ran again this morning to see if this was just some sort of a fluke, and completed my run in 35 minutes (still pretty good =)).  Guess that means this kid's become a runner. =)

Kiddos

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.  Proverbs 3:5

This summer I've joked about how my life has suddenly become children (then again, it's always had a good helping of kiddos in it =)).  As I went on my day off from nannying to volunteer at camp with preschoolers to leave camp in the early morning to work at church with other preschoolers, I've realized just how true that statement is.  Yup, God's definitely given me a soft spot for kids.  And here's one more reason that I love them.

This morning at church I shared with my class the story of Gideon's army (you know, the one where God limits Gideon's army to 300 men to prove that it's because of God and not men that they won the battle, that they did the seemingly impossible).  With each lesson, we have a verse and saying that we try to ingrain in the kids' heads before the hours through.  After going through both quite a few times, we sat down for snack.  Between bits, I asked the kids individually, "Aidan, can we trust God?"
"Yes!"
"Why can we trust God?"
"Because God does what He says!"

Their enthusiasm brought tears to my eyes as they proclaimed such a simple yet profound truth.  Why can we trust God?  Because He does what He says.  We trust God because He is faithful, because He fulfills His promises.  Such a simple truth, yet in our adult thinking we make it so complicated.  We allow life experience, "logic", and hurt to mull our childlike faith.  We forget that we can trust God simply because God does what He says.

But now, this is what the LORD says- He who created  you, O Jacob, He who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.      Isaiah 43:1

Ode to the Neighborhood

Can I just take a moment to say how much I love my neighborhood?  Today's storms left our street littered with branches, uprooted trees, and debris everywhere.  As soon as the storm had passed, my neighbor's were out in force helping each other clean up, taking extra care to help those who weren't home, offering whatever they had to cover whatever the other was lacking.  Yup, gotta love the neighborhood.  =)

Tenderness

"Noah Webster defines tenderness as sensitivity to emotions, to the feelings of others.  Kahlil Gibran, in his work Jesus of Nazaereth, says '[Jesus'] sadness was tenderness to those in pain and comradeship to the lonely.'  Biblically, tenderness is what follows when someone reveals to you your inner beauty, when you discover your belovedness, when you experience that you are deeply and sincerely liked by someone.  If you communicate to me that you really like me, not just love me as a brother in Christ, that you take delight in me, then you open up to me the possibility of liking myself.  The look of amiable regard in your eyes banishes my fears, and my defense mechanisms disappear into the nothingness of my non-attention to them.  Your warmth withers my self-disdain and allows the possibility of self-esteem.  I drop my mask of pretentious piety, stop impersonating Brother Teresa, quit disguising my sanctimonious voice, start to smile at my frailty, and dare to become more open, sincere, vulnerable, and affectionate with you than I would ever dream of being if I thought you didn't like me.  In short, what happens is I grow tender.
~Brennan Manning The Wisdom of Tenderness

Make it so, LORD

Lamentations 3

Ask a dozen people their favorite book of the Bible, and it's unlikely that even one will name Lamentations.  It's not really one of those feel-good uplifting books that we typically cling to.  It describes the state of Judah after facing God's wrath, and the imagery that it uses isn't pretty.  Here's the amazing thing, though.  Smack dab in the middle of images of desperation, famine, and death, lies a message of miraculous hope only possibly because of the great God that we serve.

19 I remember my affliction and my wandering, 

   the bitterness and the gall.
²⁰ I well remember them,
   and my soul is downcast within me.
²¹ Yet this I call to mind
   and therefore I have hope:

 ²² Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed,
   for his compassions never fail.
²³ They are new every morning;
   great is your faithfulness.
²⁴ I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion;
   therefore I will wait for him.”

 ²⁵ The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him,
   to the one who seeks him;
²⁶ it is good to wait quietly
   for the salvation of the LORD.
²⁷ It is good for a man to bear the yoke
   while he is young.

 ²⁸ Let him sit alone in silence,
   for the LORD has laid it on him.
²⁹ Let him bury his face in the dust—
   there may yet be hope.
³⁰ Let him offer his cheek to one who would strike him,
   and let him be filled with disgrace.

 ³¹ For no one is cast off
   by the Lord forever.
³² Though he brings grief, he will show compassion,
   so great is his unfailing love.
³³ For he does not willingly bring affliction
   or grief to anyone.

Wow!  Jeremiah's faith astounds me.  At this point in time, his nation has gone to pot, they had been multiple attempts on his life, and there appeared to be little hope for a better tomorrow.  BUT because Jeremiah knew God's character, knew that He served a God of love (1 John 4:8), he had hope.  Despite the devastating circumstances that surrounded him, Jeremiah chose to trust in the faithfulness, love, and power of His God.  He rested assured, knowing that "because of the LORD's great love, [he would not be] consumed, for [God's] compassions never fail.  They are new every morning; great is [God's] faithfulness!"


LORD, teach me to have a faith like that.

Jeremiah

I've also recently listened to the book of Jeremiah on tape while driving to work.  Though admittedly there are times that I'm distracted and zone out from what I'm hearing, other times hearing the Word has brought it to life; the enthusiasm and animation of the narrator's voice make the images so much more vivid.

This happened while listening to Jeremiah one day.  Time and time again God spoke through Jeremiah, using him to warn His people to turn from their disobedience or else face God's wrath.  God warned them over and over again, but to no avail.  Finally, God did what He said; He poured out His wrath on Judah.  When I heard the people's response, I literally laughed out loud!

"God, why is all this bad stuff happening to us?  Why have You turned away from us?  Why aren't You protecting us?  Why are You allowing us to feel Your wrath?"

Really Judah?  Really?  God told You time and time again to turn away from your sins or else face His wrath. Yet you continuously ignored Him, and now only when you're in trouble do you turn from Him.  God gave you fair warning.  In the words of Jeremiah, "Why should the living complain when punished for their sins?" (Lamentations 3:39).

As I was having a good laugh at Judah's ignorance, God quickly humbled me.  How many times have I done the exact same thing?  How often do I ignore God until I desperately need Him?  How often do I minimize the impact of my sins, justifying that such-and-such really isn't so bad, surely not as bad as this other sin someone else is doing?  How often do I live for myself instead of for God?  Yikes!  Yes, I would like another piece of humble pie, please.

LORD, forgive me for living for myself.  Forgive me for living selfishly.  Forgive me for engaging in activities You've clearly warned against in Your Word.  Forgive me for following my own path.  Forgive me for seeking my comfort and pleasure instead of Your glory.  Forgive me for my idols, LORD.  Teach me to love Your law.  Teach me to live for You above all else, to live for You alone.  Teach me to love You with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength.  You are God alone.  Where You lead, I will follow.

Lamentations

With my new job schedule, I've been trying to figure out a morning routine that allows me to accomplish all that I want to without requiring me to get up at the crack of dawn.  One thing that I've been trying is listening to the Bible on cd during my commute.  The other day while listening to Lamentations, I had to pull over as tears filled my eyes as I took in imagery like this:

 My eyes fail from weeping,
   I am in torment within;
my heart is poured out on the ground
   because my people are destroyed,
because children and infants faint
   in the streets of the city.

  They say to their mothers,
   “Where is bread and wine?”
as they faint like the wounded
   in the streets of the city,
as their lives ebb away
   in their mothers’ arms.

(2:11-12)

Because of thirst the infant’s tongue 
   sticks to the roof of its mouth; 
the children beg for bread, 
   but no one gives it to them.
(4:4)


Remember, LORD, what has happened to us;
   look, and see our disgrace.
 Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers,
   our homes to foreigners.
 We have become fatherless,
   our mothers are widows.
 We must buy the water we drink;
   our wood can be had only at a price.
 Those who pursue us are at our heels;
   we are weary and find no rest.
(5:1-5)


As Jeremiah's lament for Judah filled my ears, my own heart broke for a different people.  His images were far too familiar; it was much too easy for me to place faces and names with the infants and children that he described.  For the umpteenth time, my heart ached for Africa (and Haiti) and for my babies there, ached to soothe their hurts and bind up their wounds.  Jeremiah's words reminded me that this suffering isn't limited to the people of Judah thousands of years ago; it's prevalent and active in our word today.


Please take a moment and join me in those who are suffering the injustices of our world.  Pray for those ravaged by famine, greed, disease, thirst, war, slavery, death.  Pray that God's justice would prevail.  And pray for those who cause this injustices (after all, Judah faced such sufferings because of its guilt and disobedience to God; because they turned their back on God, even innocent children were impacted.  Yeah, that sounds familiar today).  Pray that they would turn from their evil ways to a life that brings honor and glory to God.  Please pray for both victim and assaulter; pray for redemption of our nation and our world, that we may turn from our evil ways and return to God.